Water Pollution Control Problems in Europe
| DOI | 10.1177/002085236302900205 |
| Author | K.W. Cuperus |
| Published date | 01 June 1963 |
| Date | 01 June 1963 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Water
Pollution
Control
Problems
in
Europe
by
K.W.
CUPERUS
UDC
351.791.19
(4)
It
seems
proper
to
begin
this
article
on
water
pollution
problems
in
Europe
and
the
efforts
that
are
being
made
to
control
« this
very
serious
and
stinking
business ’
(to
quote
the
words
of
an
American
author)
with
a
definition
of
water
pollution
which
is
in
itself
already
sufficiently
controversial.
A
definition
which
secured
a
large
measure
of
acceptance
at
an
International
Conference
on
Water
Pollution
Problems
in
Europe
held
at
Geneva
in
1961
under
the
auspices
of
the
ECE
and
has
since
then
never
been
serious-
ly
challenged
reads
as
follows :
«
A
water
course
is
to
be
considered
pollut-
ed
when
the
water
in
it
is
altered
in
compo-
sition
or
condition,
directly
or
indirectly
as
a
result
of
the
activities
of
man,
so
that
it
is
less
suitable
for
any
or
all
of
the
purposes
for
which
it
would
be
suitable
in
its
natural
state
».
It
should be
noted
that
this
definition
ex-
cludes
natural
pollution
and
admits
at
the
same
time
that
water
courses
may
be
used
as
recipients
and
carriers
of
waste
on
condi-
tion
that
this
beneficial
and
age-old
use
of
the
water
for
these
purposes
should
be
limited
to
the
extent
that
the
waters
remain
suitable
for
usage
for
other
purposes.
Whereas
water
pollution
in
the
sense
of
this
definition
has
probably
existed
ever
since
human
beings
settled
in
the
proximity
of
rivers,
the
need
for
water
pollution
control
has
made
itself
sharply
felt
only
recently
and
more
in
particular
in
regions
which
are
densely
populated
and/or
highly
industrial-
ized.
Although
there
are
exceptions
to
this
rule
it
may
be
stated
that
all
consumptive
water
use
results
practically
always
in
water
pollu-
tion ;
that
this
pollution
has
caused
no
great
inconvenience
in
past
centuries
is
only
due
to
the
fact
that
the
water
polluted
in
one
form
or
another
through
human
activities
formed
only
a
very
small
part
of
the
water
courses
that
received
them
and
which
dealt
with
the
polluting
agents
through
their
own
self-purification
capacity
or
carried
these
agents
into
the
sea
-
final
destination
for
waste
even
in
these
days
-
without
doing
much
or
any
harm
to
downstream
water
users.
This
fairly
satisfactory
situation
rapidly
deteriorated,
as
far
as
Europe
is
concerned,
since
the
process
of
industrialization
started,
and
the
consumptive
use
of
water
for
domestic
uses
increased,
two
phenomena
which
as
experience
shows
always
closely
go
together.
As
Europe’s
major
streams
serving
the
pur-
pose
of
waste
disposal
are
international
in
the
sense
that
their
drainage
areas
lie
across
more
than
one
countr,y,
it
is
not
surprising
that
pollution
of
the
boundary
waters
created
in-
ternational
concern;
certain
international
arrangements
were
made,
for
the
greater
part
in
the
years
between
1870
and
1925,
to
pre-
vent
further
pollution
of
these
waters.
Their
primary
purpose
was
to
safeguard
inland
fisheries’
interest.
As,·
since
the
end
of
World
War
II,
the
industrialization
of
Europe
made
important
progress
and
was
unavoidably
followed
in
its
wake
by
water
pollution,
it
is
not
astonishing
that
the
problem
has
come
up
for
discussion
and
examination
at
the
United
Nation’s
ECE,
whose
main
task
is
to
examine
all
problems
concerning
European
economic
activity,
part-
icularly
those
which
lend
themselves
to
in-
ternational
cooperation.
Hie
problem
first
came
up
for
discussion
in
the
Sub-Committee
on
Inland
Water
*
Mr.
Cupcrus
is
a
member
ot
the
Secretariat
oi
ihe
United
Nations
Economic
Commission
for
Europe
at
Gencva.
’Ihe
views
expressed
herein
are
his
persona)
%icws
and
not
necessarily
thosc
of
the
Orgaiii/ittion.
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